Tuesday, October 8, 2002, 8:30:58 AM, you wrote: JvD> Quoting Jon Hall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> Tuesday, October 8, 2002, 3:57:11 AM, you wrote: >> JvD> jon hall wrote: >>>> >>>> In the very first democratic elections held in ancient Greece, >>>> basically the amount of money you paid was how much your vote >>>> counted for. That's what happens in representative democracies... >> >> JvD> But is it fair? >> >> Within limits, I think yes.
JvD> But who gets to set those limits? The people ultimately. Unfortunately at least in the US, this kind of stuff either flies under most peoples radars, or it over their head. >> How do you stop it though? JvD> Not. Ironically, the current system of delegation of voting rights to JvD> some representative is the ultimate form of capitalism in the "Wealth JvD> of Nations" meaning. You are the one who questioned the systems fairness...are you saying it shouldn't be changed? >> It's really not possible without some kind of [r]evolution in the >> government. If the people themselves don't take the reigns, it will >> continue to be this way. Honestly, people today work to hard to pay >> attention enough to get all of the information they would need to >> do so. JvD> What information? Just because you and me would like people to make an JvD> informed decision, does that mean we can say they 'need' certain JvD> information? Shouldn't people have the right to make the 'wrong' JvD> decision? The information relating to the topic we are talking about...that being the direct relation between campaign contribution and how the representatives vote, in essence becoming bribes as you said. All of this information is available by law, but people don't go looking for it. >> Until technology, like the internet, make it possible for the >> majority of Americans to not have to spend the majority of their >> lives doing someone else's bidding, representative democracy, and all >> that comes with it is going to have to do...for now. JvD> I don't think any economical revolution is ever going to change the way JvD> the current delegated systems work. Maybe some countries will switch JvD> from monarchy to republic or whatever, but some form of representative JvD> government will prevail because withinthe current parameters it is the JvD> most efficient system. See the American Revolution...and the after-effects of the Great Depression here in the US. Both were about economics, and both profoundly changed the political landscape forever here in the US. Besides, economics is the foundation of capitalism, and by proxy democracy here in the US at least...if anything is going to change it, it's going to be economics. JvD> Ultimately, the only thing that could change this is some new form of JvD> technology that can link up people's mind so they can think in some JvD> sort of Collective. And I don't think I want to be part of a Hive just JvD> yet... I'm thinking more along the lines of people not having to work to earn money to survive anymore, only to prosper. Once the majority of people have enough free time to pay attention to the details, the governments will finally start moving towards true democracy. That would be the end goal in my mind. I don't think I will live to see the birth of a true democracy though, but one can hope. -- jon mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ______________________________________________________________________ Structure your ColdFusion code with Fusebox. Get the official book at http://www.fusionauthority.com/bkinfo.cfm Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/cf-community@houseoffusion.com/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
